A Mission man will spend 14 years in prison after being convicted of trafficking drugs with an estimated street value of $873,660, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled April 27.
Justice Martha Devlin said a search at Christopher Leigh Harmes’ residence produced “staggering amount of controlled substances and paraphernalia.”
“Mr. Harmes’ wholesale drug operation was in the upper level of the trafficking hierarchy; he engaged in the purchase, sale, and exchange of wholesale amounts of drugs, which would be later broken down into smaller amounts for sale to end users,” Devlin said.
Harmes was convicted of seven counts of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking and five firearms offences. He was also convicted of possession, without a licence, of a prohibited 9 mm carbine semiautomatic rifle with a folding stock and cut down barrel together with readily accessible ammunition.
There were 3.5 kilograms of fentanyl, 1.636 kilograms of methamphetamine, 284 grams of cocaine, 509 grams of ketamine, 844 codeine pills, 558 hydromorphone pills, and 40 morphine pills seized.
The total value of the controlled substances was $524,930 at the wholesale level and $873,660 at the street level.
The charges against Harmes came after a police investigation into drug dealing at the residence and execution of a warrant.
He was caught climbing out of a window.
Found on Harmes were two cellphones, a bottle of pills, and two bundles of Canadian currency totalling $2,610 and $1,400, respectively. Near where Harmes was standing police located a loaded 9 mm calibre Shadow semiautomatic pistol loaded and ready to fire.
Inside a duffel bag were several clear plastic bags containing cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine in crystal form, ketamine, codeine pills, and white powder.
Also found were 700 grams of blue-dyed 5.6% pure fentanyl mixed with caffeine and another clear plastic bag containing 1.05 kilograms of blue-dyed 4.7% pure fentanyl mixed with caffeine.
In a frying pan under the bed, there were nine prescription fentanyl patches.
On the glass coffee table in the bedroom were various items associated with the mixing and weighing of drugs. Found there was a bowl containing 200 grams of brown fentanyl of purity between 78% and 83%; a round 14.79 gram piece of crack cocaine; and an 8.92 gram piece of crack cocaine.
Beneath the coffee table were plastic bags containing 900 grams of methamphetamine in crystal form and 1.55 kilograms of dark-coloured fentanyl of 3.5-4.4% purity.
Inside a dresser were pill bottles containing white hydromorphone pills, a pill bottle containing 40 grey and white morphine gel capsules, a clear plastic bag containing 344 red codeine pills, assorted empty plastic bags, and fentanyl testing strips.
Also located in the dresser drawers was a cartridge magazine for a GSG MP40 rifle containing 21 9 mm cartridges.
An electronic cash-counting machine was near a bed.
In a closet was a Kevlar body armour vest and a coat with a bag of 28.17 grams of fentanyl inside the coat pocket.
In an en-suite bathroom was a 9 mm carbine semiautomatic rifle with a folding stock and cut down barrel. In a hidden compartment behind the vanity mirror, were a 9 mm Sig Sauer handgun cartridge magazine and approximately 200 rounds of 9 mm ammunition capable of being discharged from the Shadow pistol and semiautomatic rifle.
In a bedroom closet, police located $102,725 inside a backpack.
